What is face-to-face communication?

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Face-to-face communication is communication that happens in real time with faces being visible. Face-to-face communication is no longer limited to in-person contact. Video conferencing is also a form of face-to-face communication, even though it uses technology to connect the participants.

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Face-to-face communication is essential to get the full conversation. In face-to-face communication, all involved parties can not only hear what is being said, but they can see see body movements and facial expressions that provide key information so they can better understand the meaning behind words. In the past, this type of communication was only possible in person, but as technology advances there are more ways to have this face-to-face conversations.

Web cameras and video phones are very common now, making it easy to get all the benefits of a face-to-face conversation without physically being in someone's presence. Internet face-to-face communication allows people from many different locations to communicate effectively without risking misunderstandings that are common in communications that are text or voice only, such as traditional phone calls and emails.

For both in-person and Internet face-to-face communication, there can be many participants. One-on-one conversations, business meetings and 100-person lectures are all forms of face-to-face communication. Having a multiple-person conversation over Web cameras, however, does require a little bit extra work to get all of the video and audio feeds working properly.